Meat
by daisyduke80
Summary: I know it's been done a thousand times over but I can't help it. What if in the episode Meat Ianto was shot instead of Rhys? Slight Gwen bashing but not much. I like the character but she is annoying sometimes. Janto fluff! Complete! Review please!


Jack felt his breath catch as he saw Dale holding Ianto at gun point. He never wanted this to happen, for Ianto to become a hostage. The look on Ianto's face said it all. He was scared. Jack had to keep himself composed as he tried to talk Dale down. Gwen tried to help by telling Dale he could still walk away from everything, but Dale was too far gone.

"You lied to me."

Dan lined up his gun to Gwen, but before he could take the shot, Ianto broke free from his ropes and grabbed Dale's arm forcing him to shoot the ceiling. The creature started to break free from its ropes. Jack watched as Dale kneed Ianto in the back and they both went down to the floor.

"No!" Jack yelled as he saw them grapple for the gun.

Jack grabbed his gun from where he had thrown it. He tried to aim it at Dale, but the creature had come loose and had rolled into his way completely blocking his view of Ianto. Ianto fell to the ground as Dale landed a punch to his gut and one to his face. He tried to fight back, but one more punch to the face and Dale was up with the gun in his hand again.

"Die!"

Dale took aim, but his balance waivered and his aim faltered. The gun went off. Ianto felt a sharp pain in his stomach as Dale took off running.

"Ianto go after them!" Jack yelled over the comms.

Ianto's adrenaline took over and he found himself running after Dale his pain forgotten. He caught up to Dale as he and his gang went about in the office deleting files from computers and gathering money. He stun gunned the one at the door shot away Dale's gun before he could grab it. Looking down at Dale with complete hate in his eyes, he growled at him,

"Pray they survive." And with that pressed the stun gun to Dale's forehead zapping him just a bit longer.

With his job done, Ianto felt himself relax and the pain come back full force. He collapsed to the ground next to Dale, praying that Jack came looking for him soon.

Jack mourned for the creature. He wanted so bad to save it. They rarely ever got a victory where they got to help the alien instead of kill it. This alien had done nothing wrong and didn't deserve what had happened to it. He hated that there was nothing they could do for it now. Jack finally took a deep breath and glanced back at his team. He immediately noticed that someone was missing.

"Where's Ianto?" he asked.

"I saw him take off after Dale while I was getting the injection ready." Owen answered.

Jack clicked on his comms.

"Ianto? You alright?"

Silence.

"Ianto?"

Silence.

"He's not answering."

"We best find him then, if he's not answering that can only mean he's injured."

Jack nodded and him Owen took off to go find the youngest member of their team. As they reached the hallway they drew their guns in case their some other member of the gang they didn't know about.

"Ok we best split up, call each other when we find him. You go down this way and I'll go this way."

Owen nodded and they split. Jack walked down the hall fast but carefully and swung his gun around before turning corners. He reached a swinging door and kicked it open softly immediately pointing his gun around to any danger. He found one of the gang knocked out by the door and figured that Ianto must have done that. When he swung his gun around to the rest of the room, the sight he saw immediately made his heart drop. Jack holstered his Weebil and ran over to where he saw Ianto lay next to Dale. Ianto was barely conscious, his breathing was ragged and there was blood coming from the wound in his stomach. Jack knelt by his lover and put a hand to his face.

"Ianto? Can you hear me? Look at me, look at me please Ianto?" he asked frantically.

Ianto's eyes rolled a bit before finally focusing on Jack.

"J-Jack….hurts." he whimpered. Jack picked up Ianto's hand and kissed it before pressing it to his chest.

"I know Ianto, I know, but it's gonna be okay. Owen's gonna take care of you ok, just hold on." Jack assured, gently stroking his thumb across Ianto's cheek. Jack clicked on his comms.

"Owen! Owen I found him, he's in the main office and hurry he's been shot! It's really bad!" Jack ordered.

Jack looked back down and saw Ianto falling asleep.

"Ianto stay awake, don't fall asleep!" he ordered tapping Ianto's cheek lightly.

Ianto opened his eyes weakly and looked at Jack.

"M tired." He mumbled.

"I know Yan, but you need to stay awake right now. You can sleep later I promise, you can sleep all you want." Jack insisted running a hand through his lover's hair, "just stay with me right now ok."

Owen entered then and came over and knelt beside them, cursing when he saw the blood.

"Shit what the hell tea boy?"

He immediately went to work and applied a medical patch to Ianto's wound while applying pressure. Ianto groaned in pain.

"Easy Yan, its gonna be ok. Your gonna be fine, I promise. Just stay with me alright, focus on me Ianto." Jack stated trying to get Ianto to look him in the eye.

"Jack…." Ianto's eyes closed as his head lolled to the side against Jack's hand.

"Ianto? Ianto!" Jack started tapping Ianto's cheek trying to wake him, "Ianto wake up! Please look at me, look at me Yan!"

"We need to get him back to the hub now Jack. I can only do so much here."

Jack nodded while trying to hold back the tears in his eyes. Owen helped Jack pick Ianto up and situate him in Jack's arms. Once Jack had Ianto, Owen lead them out to the main part of the warehouse. Gwen, Tosh, and Rhys were still there looking sad for the poor creature they couldn't save.

"Rhys, go bring around the truck and hurry, Ianto's been shot!" Owen ordered.

Gwen looked and saw Jack carrying Ianto while Owen applied pressure to the wound in Ianto's side.

"Oh my God," she whispered walking over to them.

"Jack I'm sorry. This is my fault, all of this is my fault. I'm so sorry, I just didn't want anything to happen to Rhys, but I didn't want this to happen either," Gwen rambled as tears came from her eyes.

"It's ok Gwen, not everything was your fault. We'll talk about it later," Jack assured not taking his eyes off of Ianto's face.

Gwen wrapped her arms around herself as she cried. Tosh went over and stroked some of Ianto's hair back from his face.

"Is he going to be alright?" she asked.

"We need to get him back to the Hub so I can treat him. Don't worry though he's going to be fine, with me as his Doctor what do we have to worry about?" Owen stated trying to reassure everyone.

Tosh smiled knowing that Owen was just trying to remain calm about the situation and trying to get everyone else calm. She looked back down at Ianto and continued to stroke his hair. Rhys came in at the moment telling them the vehicle was outside. Owen helped Jack get Ianto into the back and gently lay him on the floor. Jack cradled Ianto's head in his lap, while Owen knelt beside them to start tending to the wound.

"Jack what about Dale and the rest of them?" Tosh asked.

"Damn, forgot all about them. Gwen do you think you and Tosh could stay here and take care of them? Standard procedure and incinerate the creature. Rhys can come back out to get you once we get back to the hub." Jack offered.

"Of course Jack, we'll take care of it. I'm really sorry again Jack. Really sorry," Gwen apologized.

Jack nodded to her and they closed the doors to the back. Rhys jumped into the driver's seat and they took off for the hub. Jack looked back down at Ianto as Owen dug supplies out his bag and tended to him. He sighed and ran a hand through Ianto's hair.

"Hold on Ianto, please just hold on."

Jack stood above the med bay and watched as Owen finished patching up Ianto.

"How is he?"

"The bullet didn't do much damage, he did loose a lot of blood though. Right now I've got fluids and blood running and with the sedative and pain medication I gave him, he might be out of it for the rest of the night." Owen explained.

"But he's going to be alright?" Jack asked.

"Yes tea boy is going to be fine. When he does come to though, he's to be on bed rest for at least the rest of the week and then light office work. Which means no sex Jack, and I will clear him for field work when I feel he's strong enough." Owen stated.

Jack nodded still not taking his eyes off his young lover.

"You can come down and see him now. I'm going to get started on the paper work," Owen stated.

Jack went down to the med bay when Owen came up the stairs. Ianto lay on the med table padding that Owen had quickly thrown down so Ianto would be more comfortable. The IV lines holding fluids and blood ran into Ianto's left arm. His shirt and jacket had been removed and his wound was stitched with a big white bandage covering it. A blanket was draped over him and his head leaned to the right a bit. Jack couldn't get over how pale the bright light made him look. Jack went over a placed a tender kiss to his forehead.

"Thanks for holding on for me." He whispered.

The alarms sounded signaling the rest of the team had returned. Jack looked up as Tosh, Gwen and Rhys came over to the railing.

"So?"

"Dale and his gang have been retconned and I'm going to put together a file of charges which will put them away for a long time. We incinerated the creature like you asked and cleaned up all evidence from the warehouse." Tosh explained.

"Good work."

"How is Ianto?" Gwen asked.

"Owen said the bullet didn't do much damage but he did loose a lot blood. He's going to be fine though." Jack answered.

"Jack I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. I acted out of line and let my emotions get the best of me." Gwen apologized.

"Gwen it's okay. Yes you did let your emotions get the best of you and we could have avoided all of this, but things happen and you did it for the person you love. I'm sure I would have acted the same. It wasn't easy seeing Ianto held hostage. It took all my strength to push down my emotions, but he's still here. He's alive and he's going to be fine. Still though you should have thought better and you do need to apologize to Ianto when he's better." Jack explained.

"Yes Jack. I'm sorry again." Gwen stated with tears in her eyes again.

"Apology accepted Gwen."

Rhys gathered Gwen in his arms as she cried a little more. Owen came back down into the med bay and checked over Ianto's vitals.

"Owen, stay here with him. Gwen I need to see you in my office alone." Jack stated.

Gwen nodded and followed Jack after giving Rhys a quick kiss. Jack closed the door to his office and walked over to his desk.

"Rhys has to forget too, you know." He stated as he handed Gwen a retcon pill from a box on his desk.

"Jack, I know I messed up today but I can't retcon Rhys. I just can't," Gwen insisted.

"Gwen he's seen too much and he knows too much. We can't risk him being compromised."

"Jack I can't do this anymore. I can't keep it to myself, I need someone to talk to outside of here. It is eating me up inside and now that he knows, I feel so much better." Gwen argued.

"Gwen you will retcon him. I will not have a civilian out there that could easily compromise us with the slip of the tounge!" Jack argued.

"He won't say anything Jack! He's not stupid! I'm not Retconning him!" Gwen yelled.

"You have already messed up enough today Gwen and in the process put the life of one of your fellow teammates in danger. I suggest you do what I say and Retcon him before I take drastic measures!" Jack growled.

"No Jack! No! I won't do it! I'm sorry that Ianto got shot but I'm not retconning Rhys and Ianto should have done a better job about keeping the gun away from Dale!" Gwen shouted.

"Gwen Copper you are out of line!" Jack yelled now standing in front of her very close, "if it wasn't for you letting your emotions get in the way and letting Rhys get involved this wouldn't have happened and Ianto wouldn't be injured right now! Now you retcon him or I will retcon you both!"

They stood there for a moment just staring each other now.

"Jack, I'm sorry, but I can't do it. I just can't. I love him and he's going to be my husband soon. I don't want anymore secrets between us. Please understand me." Gwen begged.

Jack stared at her for a moment before finally giving in.

"Fine. It's your call, but if anything happens to him or to this team because of him, it's on you." Jack pointed out.

"Nothing will happen." Gwen assured.

"You better hope it doesn't," Jack warned, "now get out of here. Take Rhys with you and don't come back until tomorrow morning, I don't want to look at you right now."

Gwen stomped off with Rhys in tow behind her once she got downstairs. The alarms signaling their leave. Jack stood there a few minutes longer taking a few deep breathes to calm himself down. He walked back downstairs to the med bay and back to Ianto's side.

"You alright?" Owen asked.

"Fine. How is he?" Jack questioned.

"He's about the same. He's getting better though."

Jack looked back down to Ianto and ran a hand through his hair lovingly. The gesture caused Ianto to let out a small moan and lean to the touch.

"Ianto? You back with me?" Jack asked.

Ianto moaned again and his eyes fluttered. Jack gripped Ianto's hand as his lover came round.

"Hey," Jack whispered softly as he brushed the bangs out of Ianto's eyes.

"Hey,"

"How you feeling?" Jack asked.

"Tired, and my stomach hurts a bit. Did we stop them?" Ianto asked.

"Yeah we did, but don't worry about that right now, ok. Just relax," Jack coaxed.

Owen came over then and turned Ianto's face to him.

"Ianto, look at me alright."

Ianto's eyes slowly focused on Owen.

"Owen…"

"That's right teaboy. I need you to tell me exactly how you feel." Owen stated.

"Really tired. My stomach hurts, feel a little nauseous." Ianto gasped.

Owen took out a small pin light and shone it into Ianto's pupils.

"The good news is you don't have a concussion or any head trauma from when he hit you, but you are definantly going to have some bruises."

Owen checked Ianto's wounds and the rest of his vitals.

"All your vitals are normal and your wound looks fine. I'm going to give you some painkillers that will make you drowsy. You can go home tomorrow where you will stay and rest for the rest of the week and after that light office work. The stitches can come out in a few weeks, I'll clear you for field work when I feel your strong enough."

"Thank you Owen."

Owen nodded as he injected some painkillers into Ianto's IV. Ianto turned back to Jack. Jack caressed his check soothingly and gave him a small smile.

"I'm so glad you are alright."

"Of course I am. Who would make the coffee if I wasn't?" Ianto joked.

Jack smiled and pressed a small kiss to Ianto's forehead.

"I was so scared that I was going to loose you," Jack whispered putting his own forehead against Ianto's.

"I know, me too. I'm fine though, I'm here." Ianto assured.

"I love you." Jack whispered looking into Ianto's eyes.

"I love you too."

Jack kissed Ianto and Ianto kissed back, but immediately pulled away gasping in pain.

"Sorry." Jack apologized smoothing back Ianto's hair.

"It's ok."

"Alright that's a sign you need to relax. So back off Harkness and stop harassing my patient." Owen ordered.

Jack nodded and looked to Ianto once more.

"Get some sleep. I'll stay with you until you wake up again."

Ianto smiled and closed his eyes. Jack watched as Ianto relaxed and his breathing even out. Jack pressed a tender kiss to his forehead and sat next to the table, still holding on to Ianto's hand. Jack told Tosh to go home for the night. Owen insisted on staying to make sure Ianto made it through the night okay and to monitor his vitals. Jack didn't argue. Owen spent the night checking on Ianto and doing paperwork. Jack didn't move all night. He stayed right by Ianto's side and held his hand all night. It was true that one day Jack would have to say goodbye to Ianto, but he was extremely thankful that today wasn't that day. He dreaded the day when it did happen, but until it did he vowed to love Ianto with all he had to give and let him know he is loved every single day.


End file.
